A young man searches for his missing father on Christmas Eve in this sequel to Spencer’s Mountain , the novel that inspired The Waltons .   It’s the night before Christmas, but Clay Spencer has failed to return home. Leaving his worried family to keep watch at the homestead, his son, Clay-Boy, takes to the snowy Virginia hills in search of his father. Along the way, he will meet an irate deer, a threatening county sheriff, a congregation of African American churchgoers, and two elderly women who happen to be bootleggers—in this tale filled with warmth, humor, and emotion.   Along with Spencer’s Mountain ,  The Homecoming  was the inspiration for the popular television show  The Waltons , which starred Richard Thomas, Andrew Duggan, and Patricia Neal, and ran for nine years between 1972 and 1981. Decades after its original publication, this tale still has the power to move and inspire.